History professor pens 'Smeltertown'

FACES IN THE CROWDBook deals with Mexican-American life in El Paso

VALERIE SWEETEN, CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT

Published 6:30 am, Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Monica Perales, a University of Houston history professor, found an outlet for her love for history when she chronicled the journey of Mexican-Americans and their role in the industrialization and globalization of a small community near El Paso.

Her book, Smeltertown: Making and Remembering a Southwest Border Community, tells their story where families thrived and business excelled.

Smeltertown was a small community on the banks of the Rio Grande in El Paso and was home to generations of Mexicans who labored at the American Smelting and Refining Co. ASARCO encompassed the lives of residents for nearly a century.

It was part company town, part Mexican-American barrio and located by the base of a giant copper smelter.

In the height of the business in the 1930s, the smelter employed about 2,000 workers almost exclusively of Mexican origin.

In 1999, the copper plant closed, leaving only a skeleton crew operation. It is slated for demolition this year. Perales, a Galleria resident, had her own personal connection. Her family was involved in Smeltertown for the past three generations.

She also earned her masters' degree in history in 1996 at the college. Chavez reviewed Perales' book for the El Paso Times and found it to be a profound analysis of the community. He said her poised personality and smart sense of humor shines through in everything she does.

"This is really important because not much has been written on El Paso. It tells a story about a company town that is important to the area. She does a great job of incorporating the history and the industrialization of the U.S. She gives us great insight the way industry impacted lives," Chavez said.

Raul Ramos, a University of Houston history professor, met Perales when she came to teach at the college in 2004. He said her book is "academically speaking, one of the best examples we have of the new wave of borderland scholarship."

Ramos, a Heights resident, is impressed by her ability to connect with people while not forgetting the historical relevance vital to the story.

"She takes the most intimate details of people's lives and relays it with sensitivity and respect while uncovering the larger meaning to society and history.

"This was a place where families built a future. I highly recommend it for people interested in the history of Texas, Mexican-Americans and the understanding how the West has been shaped by immigration and industrialization," Ramos said.

In 1996, Perales earned her master's degree in history from the University of Texas, then moved to Palo Alto, Ca. and completed her Ph.D. in history at Stanford University in 2004.

She then joined the staff at the University of Houston teaching U.S. history, Mexican-American history and graduate classes in oral history.

Perales is the recipient of various fellowships including the 2009 Women's Studies Faculty Summer Fellowship and the 2006-2007 Summerlee Fellow in Texas History at the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies at Southern Methodist University. This book has been a labor of love for Perales, she said.

"I started this as a 20-page paper related to the American West. Three of my grandparents were born in El Paso, and my relatives worked there. It was a very imposing presence where you could see the smokestacks from the backyards of houses. Smeltertown still lives on in reunions and events. I wanted to tell the perspective from the families," Perales said. In her free time, Perales enjoys spending time with her husband, Matt Perkins, and participating in the Center for Public History.

To nominate someone for a Faces in the Crowd profile, e-mail melissa.bech@chron.com.

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